Broad Channel Bits

By Liz Guarino

Monday gave everyone a taste of the much-awaited and longed-for spring temperatures. Lately—when it has not been too windy and cold—the birds have been chirping like crazy in the mornings as they perch on the branches of the still-bare trees. They must be hollering so loud because they know spring will soon be here. Only 9 days till the first full day of spring.

A Sauerbraten Dinner will be held in the Christ Presbyterian Church hall on Sunday, April 10 starting at 3 p.m. Cost is $10 per dinner. Reservations are necessary for this event. Call Joyce at 718-474-7769, Janet at 718-318-6454 or the church at 718-945-3443 for reservations or free delivery. Please make all calls a week before the dinner.

The Broad Channel Theatre Group will hold their much-awaited production of Guys & Dolls, which will be held the first weekend in April at the American Legion Hall. On Friday, April 1 there will be a show at 8 p.m.; all tickets for this show are $15, refreshments will be sold and children will not be admitted. On Saturday, April 2 all tickets will be $20 (no children admitted); admission to this 8 p.m. show includes a complimentary drink. On Sunday, April 3 there will be a 2 p.m. show to which children will be admitted. Tickets will be $15 each for adults, and $10 for seniors and children. Refreshments will be sold at this performance. To purchase tickets call 718-318-0388. A portion of the proceeds will benefit B.C.V.F.D.

The Broad Channel American Legion Auxiliary is holding its 2nd Annual Jane Fuller Memorial Brunch for Cancer Care, on Sunday, March 13 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. A mini Sweepstake will be drawn on that day.

The final registration day for BCAC Jamaica Bay Little League is as follows: On Saturday, March 12 registration will take place from 10 a.m. to noon and the $25 late fee will be imposed with no exceptions. Registration will be held at the BCAC Memorial Field at 1 Road and Cross Bay Boulevard. For more information, visit www.broadchannelac.com.

The monthly bus ride to Green Acres will be on Monday, March 14 for senior citizens. Held on the second Monday of each month, it gives seniors an opportunity to shop at Walmart. Or they can shop in the mall or just “hang out” there, if they like. The bus leaves from the corner of Noel and Crossbay. Call Hilda at 718-318-7826 to register for the trip and for further information. You do not have to be a member of any group to go on this bus trip.

Tax help for seniors is now available at the B.C. Library. The program is already in progress. A volunteer will be available to help you every Wednesday from 1 through 5 p.m. until April 13. Tax helpers are from A.A.R.P.

Both of our schools are involved in the General Mills box tops for education program, which has a website located at: www.boxtopsforeducation.com. Each of the designated box tops is worth 10 cents to the school which gets it! There is a box in the main lobby of P.S. 47 to collect them. At St. Virgilius School they can be left at the school office or deposited in the designated receptacle in the rear of the church.

Products on which you can find these special boxtops number in the hundreds and include: the many General Mills cereals and snack-type products’ Bisquick; Bugles; Lloyd’s bowl meals; Totinos Pizza Rolls; tube refrigerated dough products like Grands; Hamburger Helper; Old El Paso products; Betty Crocker baking products; Gold Medal flour; Yoplait yoghurt products and Nature Valley granola bars to name a few! Each school can earn as much as $20,000 from each of three program components.

Stargazers can look up to see something that’s visible only for a very brief period of time—the planet Mercury. It will be visible in the sky to the naked eye ½ hour after sunset. If you look up then, a pair of binoculars may be needed to see the planet as a bright, flickering star a few degrees above the horizon in the western sky. On Friday night the moon will be a thin crescent and the planet will be on its lower right.

HEAP (Home Energy Assistance Program) helps elderly and disabled New Yorkers with a one time grant for heating their homes. There are guidelines to meet to qualify for this assistance. For an application, simply call 311. Grants range from $40 to $400 depending on various factors. Among some of the factors considered for the amount of the grant are the size of the income and number of family members as well as the type of heat and such things as the presence of absence of children.

March 20 is the last day for the Winter Pet Extravaganza being held by Animal Care and Control to encourage adoption of dogs or puppies and cats or kittens. They are offering a 50% reduction in adoption packages which are normally $50 for cats (or kittens) and $80 for dogs (or puppies). Packages include spaying/neutering, vaccination, one veterinary visit and microchipping. The last item is a great way to insure that your pet does not get lost even if he loses his collar and tags! To take advantage of this deal and share your home with a lucky animal, call the receiving department of AC&C at 718-997-6330 for the hours and location of their full-service facility.

The 2005 Broad Channel Historical Calendar contains vintage pictures of Broad Channel and the current times of high tide, (very valuable to a seaside community!). Buy one for $5 at O’Macs, All American Deli, New Grassy Point Hotel or at a Civic Association meeting or from a member of the Historical Society.

Do you have information or news you would like to see in this space? (Please get your item(s) to me by 9:30 a.m. Tuesday morning if you want it to appear in the Wave on Friday in the same week.) Send email to: Lizbcbits @aol.com.